10 Responses to “Open Thread- Inspiration”  

1. 1 nathalie et cetera on December 29, 2008 said:

   I have a list of blogs and websites that I visit every day. that’s my biggest source of inspiration. most of them are listed on my own blog
2. 2 Lauren Abrams on December 29, 2008 said:

   I love http://www.polymerclaydaily.com …it’s always inspirational to me…
3. 3 Heide on December 29, 2008 said:

   I see other artists work that is more advanced or more expressive than my own at ebsq amd it inspires me to push myself harder and to try new things.
4. 4 Amie Gillingham on December 29, 2008 said:

   When I get stuck, listening to Sigur Ros (particularly their first US release, svefn-g-englar, helps me get into a good flow state condusive for painting. My daughter’s artwork (disclosure: she’s 4 1/2) inspires me as well. I love seeing her fresh take on the world!
5. 5 Heather M. Mathieson on December 29, 2008 said:

   Whenever I am in a dry spell – as I have been for a few months now – something I see or think about will spark my interest and keep me engaged for months to come.
6. 6 Torrie Smiley on December 29, 2008 said:

   I am always fearful of the blank canvas……The things that inspire me seem to change. I try to always have my camera with me to snap whatever catches my eye….yes, I have embarrassed my children when I stop in grocery stores or the cheesecake factory and just start snapping away. I keep a note pad handy to write down things I think of because I most surely will forget when I have time to paint.

   When times are really tough, I pull out the tapes from art shows I have taped from PBS. I am a medical transcriptionist by day working from home, I will put in the tapes of the various art shows on in the background while working. It is amazing what it does for your brain when you are doing something else and not even focusing on the show. It seems like it plants technique and style right into my brain! Happy trees!

   Torrie
7. 7 Alma Lee on December 30, 2008 said:

   I do a lot of looking at: others art, my pets, even my own art but mostly it will be a common simple object, that for some reason I will suddenly see in a a relational position to something else. And I start with that line and let it take me. We never go the direction, I think were headed, but a lot of times we have a happy accident!

   Alma Lee
8. 8 Valerie Jeanne on December 30, 2008 said:

   Just moving a pencil or pen around on a sheet of paper fires up creative thinking, I’ve found. Even if it’s aimless scribbling, it will help to stir up ideas as well as the desire to create.

   Valerie
9. 9 Lisa Thornton Whittaker on December 30, 2008 said:

   a pretty color combo
   flowers
   other nice paintings
   music
   bordom
   anxiety
   happy thoughts
   EBSQ Shows
10. 10 Ann Murray on December 30, 2008 said:

    To get inspired, I clean my drafting table off so it is fresh and clean, no work-in-progress piled on it. Then I have no excuses for not starting work, as in “I can’t get started on anything because my table is too covered with ’stuff’”.

    My second technique is to come here to EBSQ and roam through the galleries. Seeing all that fresh paint and fresh ideas inspires me to create something too. Also going to art galleries is inspiring. When I go to a gallery, it’s all I can do to not start drawing something the minute I’m in the car on the way home. I also treated myself to a big coffee table art book for Christmas. It was marked down so it was a real deal. I just leaf through a few pages and that helps to inspire.

    All that being said, starting a project is really really hard for me. I have to fight myself to get started. I’m the queen of procrastination. Once I do get myself to start, then it’s easy from there. But ’starting’ is my struggle and *sigh* I guess it always will be.